Smackdown Results – 4/29/11

“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…” The WWE video leads us into the show.

A video plays highlighting the WWE Draft from Raw. They show all the entertainers the show picked up. We got Randy Orton, Sin Cara, Mark Henry, and lost Big Show and Alberto Del Rio. The show had John Cena for about an hour and a half but that changed quickly.

The Smackdown video plays, with all our new stars in it, and we’re brought into the arena with a big fireworks display. Josh Mathews, Booker T, and Michael Cole welcome us to the show. The vacant World Heavyweight Championship is hanging over the ring. Big Show and Kane will defend their WWE Tag Team Titles against Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel. Rey Mysterio will also have his last Smackdown match against Mark Henry tonight.

Randy Orton’s music hits and Smackdown’s newest main eventer makes his way to the ring in a Smackdown shirt. Orton seems to be attempting to grow a beard but it looks real scraggly. We’ll see if he sticks with that in the coming weeks. Orton takes in the cheers as the crowd is going wild for him. Orton says for those who don’t know him (there doesn’t seem to be many) he is Randy Orton. For the first time in almost five years, because of the WWE Draft, he is back, once again, on the Smackdown roster. While he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead, this Sunday at Extreme Rules he has a little bit of unfinished business to attend to involving CM Punk. This Sunday…

Drew McIntyre’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring in a Raw shirt. McIntyre was drafted to Raw during the Supplemental Draft. McIntyre says he didn’t buy a ticket to see the people. McIntyre says the good news is Orton is on Smackdown, but the bad news is he is moving onwards to Monday Night Raw. McIntyre says it’s a shame because the WWE Universe is going to have to wait a little longer for Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton. They stand face to face and McIntyre says he can tell by Orton’s look that he wants to RKO him, but McIntyre says he’s just out to say hello… and goodbye!

McIntyre kicks him and goes for the Future Shock DDT. Orton quickly wiggles out of it and drops McIntyre with an RKO! Orton continues what he was saying when…

Alex Riley interrupts him. Riley is one of Smackdown’s newest stars, acquired in the Supplemental Draft. Riley gets in the ring and Orton immediately RKO’s him! Orton waits to see if anyone else is going to come out and, of course, he’s interrupted again.

Alberto Del Rio makes his way to the ring with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay. Del Rio introduces himself, but we, especially Orton, already knew that. Del Rio says Orton is making a great first impression just like he did on Smackdown. Del Rio says he feels bad for the crowd because we’re losing him from “the Smackdown”. After this Sunday, at Extreme Rules, we are going to lose the World Heavyweight Championship because he’s bringing it with him to Raw. For Orton, like he said, he knows how to make a great first impression. All three of them get in the ring and Del Rio says he knows how to make a lasting impression.

They square off to attack but Christian runs down to even the score. Smackdown General Manager makes his way to the stage and tells them to wait. Long says it might be a new era on Smackdown but we’re still playing by his rules. If they want to go at it then they’ll do it right. Tonight’s main event will be a Tag Team Match. It will be Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay taking on Christian and Randy Orton! HOLLA!

Del Rio smiles and gets out of the ring. Del Rio winks and quickly gets away from Orton. Christian then dropkicks Clay off the apron. They make their way up the ramp as Orton and Christian look on.

-Commercial Break-

Raw’s Kofi Kingston makes his way to the ring and is immediately attacked from behind by United States Champion Sheamus. Sheamus sends him hard into the barricade a few times and stomps away at him. Sheamus sends him hard into the steel steps before putting him into the ring. Sheamus stalks his prey and drops Kingston with a Brogue Kick when he gets up. Sheamus screams that Smackdown belongs to him and holds the United States Championship up.

We’ll see Rey Mysterio take on Mark Henry in his final Smackdown match.

-Commercial Break-

Sir Michael Cole is standing in the ring sporting a black eye and a busted lip. Cole says “Mr. WrestleMania” is talking. Cole is going to introduce us to his friend and tag team partner at Extreme Rules. This man will watch him pick apart the royal imposter Jerry “The King” Lawler. This man will watch him dissect that fat, barbecue eating, bulbous, pork pulling sow, who responds to, “SUEEEE”, Jim Ross. This man is the All American-American Jack Swagger.

Jack Swagger makes his way to the ring in a Raw shirt. He’ll be heading to Monday Night Raw due to the Supplemental Draft. He will take on one of Smackdown’s newest superstars in Sin Cara.

Jack Swagger vs. Sin Cara

They circle the ring and Swagger kicks him. Swagger takes him down and powers him to the corner. Swagger punches him down. They have some really dark blue lighting for this match. Swagger puts him on his shoulder but Cara slides off. Cara punches so Swagger pushes him to the corner. Cara avoids a splash and executes a beautiful springboard arm drag. Swagger immediately pops up and hits a big clothesline. Swagger drops some elbows and does some pushups on Cara. Cole claps at ringside. Swagger sends him hard into the corner sternum first and Cara goes down. Swagger sends him to the corner again and Cara drops. Swagger hits a nice body slam and goes for the Vader Bomb but Cara gets the knees up.

Cara kicks away at Swagger. Swagger reverses a whip so Cara hits a rope-aided handspring back elbow. Cara ducks a clothesline and hits a head-scissors takeover. Cara gets back dropped to the apron but he quickly comes back with a kick to the skull. Cara springboards but Swagger ducks and hits a big boot. Cole gives Swagger some brass knuckles but Cara victory rolls him for the win!

Winner by Pinfall: Sin CaraMatch Rating: * 3/4

Michael Cole is livid at ringside and screams at Swagger to do something. Swagger charges but Cara pulls the top rope down, sending him over. Sin Cara then hits an IMPRESSIVE springboard high-angle plancha to the outside! Cole yells at Swagger to get his head in the game.

WWE Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane will be in action next.

-Commercial Break-

The Kharma video plays again. I absolutely love this video. I love the “HARM” thing. I can’t wait for her to debut.

Before the match begins, we’re shown a replay of Heath Slater shoving Justin Gabriel down following their loss of the titles last week.

Big Show starts off against Heath Slater. Big Show quickly punches him to the corner. Big Show sends him to the opposite corner and runs into a boot. Slater goes into the ropes but Big Show catches him. Slater wiggles off and chop blocks him. Justin Gabriel is tagged in and he takes him down with a missile dropkick. Gabriel kicks away and covers but Big Show kicks out, simultaneously throwing Gabriel out of the ring.

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Slater DDT Big Show for a near fall. Gabriel is tagged in and he comes off the top rope into a goozle. Gabriel counters the Chokeslam into a DDT for a near fall. Gabriel kicks away and applies a sleeper hold. Big Show fights up to his feet and counters into a sidewalk slam.

Kane and Slater are tagged in. Kane takes him out with some right hands and catches him with a slingshot. Slater gets off but quickly runs into a big boot. Kane covers him for a near fall. Kane sends him to the corner and clotheslines him. Kane hits a sidewalk slam for another near fall. Kane goes to the top rope and hits a flying lariat. Kane signals for the Chokeslam and grabs Slater. Gabriel jumps into it as well. They kick and send Kane to the ropes but Kane ducks their double clothesline. They then turn into Big Show and Kane, who hit stereo Chokeslams (sort of) for the win!

The Great Khali is backstage with Ranjin Singh when Rey Mysterio walks up. The Great Khali wishes him luck on Raw and Mysterio thanks him. All of a sudden a man walks up and Khali and Singh seem impressed. They speak in their native tongue and seem excited.

-Commercial Break-

Rey Mysterio makes his way to the ring in his Raw shirt. Mysterio says it’s hard to leave this show. Mysterio says since he’s been part of Smackdown, we’ve allowed him into our homes to entertain us, and he’s enjoyed every single minute of it. We’ve had a lot of fun together and we won the World Title together. Just because he got drafted to Raw doesn’t mean the journey is over. It continues this Sunday at Extreme Rules when he defeats Cody Rhodes, and we celebrate together. Mysterio says it doesn’t matter if he’s on Raw or Smackdown. The bottom line is each and every one of us will always be a part of the 619.

Mark Henry makes his way to the ring and we’re reminded of what he did to John Cena and Christian on Raw. Henry says it’s unfortunate for Mysterio that his farewell is his debut.

Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry

The bell rings and Mysterio quickly ducks a clothesline and kicks away. Henry grabs him and powers him down with a nerve hold. Mysterio quickly rolls out of the ring to recover. Mysterio slowly gets back in the ring and kicks Henry in the face a few times. Mysterio slides through the legs and runs into an avalanche. Henry stands on Mysterio’s chest and smiles. Henry powers him in from the apron and Mysterio punches and kicks. Henry quickly clubs him down and slides him out of the ring. Mysterio lands outside with a thud.

Henry follows him out of the ring and Mysterio dropkicks him a few times in the knee. Henry quickly pushes him away into the steel steps. Henry goes to squash him against the stairs but Mysterio moves and Henry flies over the steps!

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Mysterio kicks Henry in the face and hit a running dropkick to the sternum. Mysterio gets to the top rope and Henry crotches him up there. Henry backs up and squashes Mysterio, who is hung up on the top rope upside down. Henry brings him to the center of the ring and covers him for a near fall. Henry head-butts him down and Mysterio tries to get away. Henry sends him hard into the corner and violently swings him around. Henry goes for a cannonball splash but Mysterio avoids it.

Mysterio dropkicks him in the face and hits a top rope senton for a near fall. Mysterio avoids a splash and dropkicks him into position. Mysterio hits the 619 and goes for a springboard splash but Cody Rhodes runs down and attacks Mysterio!

Winner by Disqualification: Rey MysterioMatch Rating: * 1/2

Rhodes punches away at Mysterio and throws him over the barricade into the crowd. Rhodes head-butts him in the face with the plastic mask. Rhodes continues punching away and drags him up the stairs through the crowd. Mysterio gets away but Rhodes catches up and throws him back over the barricade. Rhodes punches and sends Mysterio into the ring. Henry was happily watching in the ring. Henry then scoops Mysterio up and hits the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry laughs and walks away. Rhodes gets back in the ring and puts the paper bag mask over Mysterio’s head.

We’ll see Randy Orton and Christian take on Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay later tonight.

-Commercial Break-

The breakup of Lay-Cool is shown in a few video clips. Come on, you know you’re not that upset about this.

Michelle McCool vs. Layla

They both come out separately to Michelle McCool’s music. Charles Robinson, my favorite referee in the world, has this possible mat classic. They lock up and McCool takes her down. They tussle and roll out of the ring. McCool sends her into the barricade a few times. Layla fights back and punches away. McCool takes her out with some kicks to the face and they get counted out.

Double Count-OutMatch Rating: N/A

The referees come down and they have a pull apart brawl. Layla grabs a microphone and says she’s sick of McCool. She wants a real match at Extreme Rules – No count-outs or disqualifications. Layla walks away and McCool says Layla would be nothing without her. McCool accepts the match at Extreme Rules. McCool says she accepts under one condition – Loser LEAVES WWE! Layla says she’s on! They dubbed in WWE and it sounded completely fake.

-Commercial Break-

They run a nice video for the WWE European Tour. Christian had a nice moment, recognizing that this is the last time he’ll be on the road with his best friend Edge.

Christian is backstage with Matt Striker. Striker asks for his thoughts on competing for the World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match against Alberto Del Rio. Christian says Del Rio has used the word “destiny” a lot. Six months ago his destiny was called into question when Del Rio completely tore his pectoral muscle. Every morning he’d get up and ask himself, “What if this is it? What if my career was over?”

Fast forward to today and his best friend Edge. One day he’s defending his World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania and then he gets the news that he has to retire. His career is over just like that. That got him wondering if he’s in the right place at the right time. Christian wonders if he really has what it takes to fulfill his potential. Until last week he never put his hands on the World Heavyweight Championship before because he never felt like he earned the right to touch it. That changes this Sunday when he climbs the ladder, takes the World Heavyweight Championship, and earns the right to keep it. That was a great promo.

The announcers run down the Extreme Rules card. It looks like it’s going to be a good show.

Tony Chimel is in the ring with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay. Alberto Del Rio drives into the arena for tonight’s main event.

-Commercial Break-

Alberto Del Rio & Brodus Clay vs. Christian & Randy Orton

Alberto Del Rio will start the match out against his Extreme Rules opponent Christian. Actually scratch that because Del Rio quickly tags in Brodus Clay. They lock up and Clay powers him down. Clay steps on him and lets Christian get back up. Christian gets a waist lock applied but Clay gets out and takes him down. Clay pushes him and Christian slaps the taste out of his mouth. Christian punches away but Clay quickly sends him to the corner. Christian goes for a springboard sunset flip but Clay doesn’t go down. Clay head-butts him down and tags in Del Rio. Del Rio comes in and kicks Christian. Del Rio picks him up and sends him to the corner, hitting him with an enzuigiri for a near fall. Del Rio applies an arm bar but Christian fights up. Del Rio sends him to the ropes but lowers his head and eats a kick.

Randy Orton is tagged in and he kicks Del Rio down. Orton drops a knee and hits a snapmare. Orton drops another knee for a near fall. Del Rio quickly kicks and hits a double knee arm breaker. Clay is tagged in and he quickly runs Orton over.

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Clay body slam Orton for a near fall. Del Rio is tagged in and he kicks and dropkicks Orton in the back of the head for a near fall. Del Rio punches away at Orton and applies a sleeper hold. Orton tries to get Christian in but Del Rio gets him away. Orton then counters out with a nice back suplex.

Christian and Clay are tagged in. Christian hits him with some clotheslines but Clay doesn’t go down. Clay reverses a whip to the corner but runs into a boot. Christian hits a missile dropkick but Clay only goes down to a knee. Christian hits a second missile dropkick and gets a one count. Christian slingshots over the top rope and punches him in the face. Clay catches Christian’s cross-body attempt and hits his fall-away slam variation. Clay stands on Christian and Del Rio kicks Christian in the arm while the referee is distracted. Clay drops an elbow for a two count. Del Rio is tagged back in and he kicks at Christian. Del Rio goes to the arm bar (not his finisher arm bar) but Christian fights up and punches out. Del Rio head-butts him down but quickly gets back body dropped over the top rope.

Clay is tagged in second before Christian tags Orton in. Clay head-butts Christian and hits a backbreaker. Clay body slams him down a few times and tags in Del Rio, who hits a top rope senton splash! Del Rio gets a near fall so he kicks away at Christian and points to the title hanging above the ring. Del Rio covers again for a near fall. Del Rio kicks Christian in the ribs and goes to the second rope but Orton distracts him. Christian then hits a nice top rope hurricanrana and both men are down!

Randy Orton is tagged in and he clotheslines him a few times. Orton ducks a clothesline and hits a nice powerslam. Orton hits the Angle Slam (RESPEKT) and hits Del Rio with the draping DDT. Orton punches Clay off the apron and stalks Del Rio for the RKO. Del Rio pushes him off and Clay sweeps Orton’s feet. Clay is tagged in and he runs into an RKO! Orton covers and picks up the win!

Winners by Pinfall: Christian & Randy OrtonMatch Rating: ** 1/4

Randy Orton and Christian raise their arms in the ring. Christian looks at the World Heavyweight Championship hanging above the ring. Del Rio shakes his head. Christian takes off his Smackdown shirt and points the title, indicating that he intends to keep it on the show.

This was a very good edition of Smackdown that not only introduced us to our new crop of superstars but also had a lot of good hype for the Extreme Rules PPV this Sunday. We kicked things off with Randy Orton introducing himself to the Smackdown audience. I doubt anyone is watching Smackdown who hasn’t already watched Raw but I guess they wanted Orton to get some face time. They had Drew McIntyre come out and he quickly got RKO’d. They then had Alex Riley out and he got RKO’d before he said a word. I was fine with McIntyre getting the RKO because at least he got a few words in and attacked first. Riley, though, needs all the credibility he can get now that he’s away from Miz. I think we saw Riley get RKO’d all the way back to the undercard. Alberto Del Rio then came out followed by Christian, and Teddy Long set up the main event.

After the break, Kofi Kingston made his way to the ring for a match against Sheamus but Sheamus attacked him during his entrance. This move to Smackdown is exactly what Sheamus needed. Sheamus was lost for so long on Raw but now he can be rediscovered on Smackdown as he runs wild on the roster. Well at least that’s what I hope will happen. Since Raw doesn’t have a mid-card title, I wonder if Kingston and Sheamus will have a return match at Extreme Rules for the United States Title. If that’s the case it looks like Sheamus might drop it to Kingston.

Michael Cole cut his usual promo on Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross before introducing Jack Swagger. Swagger had a match against Sin Cara that was pretty decent. It was really just a showcase (a non-botched showcase) of what Sin Cara can do. I really like Sin Cara and I hope he does well on Smackdown.

Big Show and Kane had a so-so match against The Corre. There was no sign of Wade Barrett or Ezekiel Jackson tonight, which was weird. They also didn’t do much to play up The Corre’s troubles throughout the month. They mentioned it but nothing was acted on tonight. I’ve always been a fan of stables so, of course, I don’t want The Corre to break up yet. I feel like they have a lot of untapped potential that goes beyond just beating up Big Show and Kane. Wade Barrett was a total star on Raw last year and I think he can be just as good on Smackdown. They just need to refocus their efforts on this.

Rey Mysterio cut a cookie-cutter face promo saying good-bye to the Smackdown crowd. They kept it short and sweet because Mysterio’s strength doesn’t lie with the microphone. He then went on to have an above average match with Mark Henry. Henry emotionally talked about his weight loss earlier this week and I have to admit he looked good in this match. Henry was moving around well and he had a nice match with Mysterio. Cody Rhodes then attacked Mysterio after the match and put the paper bag over his head. I love Cody Rhodes and his character. I’m looking forward to their match on Sunday.

Big news in the diva division with Michelle McCool challenging Layla to a loser leaves WWE match at Extreme Rules. I wonder when this decision was made because they definitely dubbed in McCool saying WWE in the challenge. I guess Sunday will be the last time we’ll see Michelle McCool. Perhaps she’s leaving to start a family with the Undertaker. In any case, though I trashed the Lay-Cool stuff every week, I wish Michelle McCool well and appreciate all the work she’s done in wrestling.

Before the main event, Christian cut a tremendous promo about destiny and winning the World Heavyweight Championship. It felt real and very emotional as he talked about Edge and how suddenly his career ended. That was hands down Christian’s best promo in WWE. I believe Sunday will be his time. There’s not much to say about the main event other than it was good. All four men looked good and I’m looking forward to Sunday.